What we called the "feeder" in Houston is called an "access road" or "frontage road" elsewhere -- the road that goes along the side of a highway for on-and-off access.

That is so confusing. We were in Houston for a wedding and the driving instructions to get to the rehearsal dinner said "Take Feeder Road." DH and I keep looking for a road named "Feeder." We flipped a witch about four times before I said "Maybe 'Feeder' means 'frontage.'"

I'm just now making my way through this thread but I had to comment on this. I had a similar experience in New York (state). We were given directions which said to turn at "Jug Handle". We kept looking for a street called Jug Handle. There wasn't one. It took us a while to realize what a jug handle was.

The funny thing is, I'm from Houston and yes, we say feeder when others say access or frontage. And a recently redesigned section of freeway way south of where I live now has a jug handle! Although I'm not sure anyone around here calls it that. It's the first jug handle I'd ever seen here in Houston, now that I know what they are!

This is what I call the things discussed above:Purse (not bag or handbag or pocket book)Bag = nounSack = verb... as in, Would you please sack my groceries in a paper bag?Cart (although I have heard basket). I've heard of buggy but never actually knew someone who used that term.out of pocket - I've heard it used both ways. The money reference, especially in reference to insurance. "Maximum out of pocket with this plan is $2500". It's not all that common to say "I'll be out of pocket for the rest of the day" meaning incommunicado, but I've definitely heard it used.in your pocket = definitely means you're bribing someone. "The mobster has the mayor in his pocket."

Regarding GeauxTigers' mention of police jury, it kind of reminds me of County Judge which is a political office in Texas (don't know if it's used elsewhere as well). The county judge isn't a judge at all, but more of something like a mayor for the county.

"My bad" is pretty commonly used here, it's one of those sayings that became so over used it's trite. Like "having said that" or "I know, right?"

Coke. Coke = soda = pop = genereic name for a carbonated beverage.Example conversation:-- You want a coke?-- Sure, what kind do you have?-- Dr. Pepper and Sprite.-- OK, I'll take a Sprite.

"None of your beeswax" was what we said as kids. I have always thought of it as a child's expression, not something adults would say.

Dear as expensive is not something that I've heard commonly used. However, my mother, whose first language was French, used "cher" (which means dear) to mean expensive. I associate the word dear meaning expensive with the Beatles song, When I'm Sixty-four. Every summer we can rent a cottageIn the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear

To me, they're a baked dish with melted cheese and possibly lots of other stuff (veggies, beans, meats) on tortilla chips. Or maybe tortilla chips with a side of that weird melted cheese stuff -- from a can or a dispenser if you're at a ballpark or something.

To BF, they're that ... or just the chips. I've never known anyone else to call tortilla chips "nachos," and since he's vegan, it's even weirder for him to suggest nachos, in the traditional sense, as a snack. FWIW, he's from Pennsylvania. Is this common there or elsewhere?

Another one that I'm pretty sure isn't regional but still confuses me: "Heavens to Betsy!"

I use nachos and tortilla chips interchangably, and when they have cheese and beans and such melted on them, they're loaded nachos. Just the cheese and tortilla chips is nachos and cheese. And now I really want some!

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Another one from Pennsylvania that calls just the chips "nachos". If they have cheese, they're nachos and cheese (or cheese and nachos). Anything else on them becomes nachos and whatever else is on them.

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

He can be reformed! Haha, Mental Boyfriend is Texan...I now say oil like y'all (and say y'all for that matter), and I know he doesn't necessarily want Coke when he says he wants a coke. He also knows what I mean when I say sweep and don't mean with a broom (I mean with a vacuum). Thus I have started to ask him if he wants a coke to see what he wants to drink, though I still ask for a pop for myself, and he says he'll sweep the floor and get the vacuum out.

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

Dear Jmarvellous. We hope you'd have little problem in Park Slope

Here, nachos aren't just sad, little naked tortilla chips. A decent dish of nachos will include chips and salsa. Perhaps refritos will be included. A good dish of nachos will include some jalapeños. A generous amount of good, grated cheese will be added and the whole thing dipped under the broiler for a minute or two.

This sort of misunderstanding isn't limited to nachos. A local restaurant named 'Mr. Falafel' claims to have had a hard time at the beginning because locals didn't know what falafel was. Local people thought that 'falafel' and 'pita' were the same thing.

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

Dear Jmarvellous. We hope you'd have little problem in Park Slope

Here, nachos aren't just sad, little naked tortilla chips. A decent dish of nachos will include chips and salsa. Perhaps refritos will be included. A good dish of nachos will include some jalapeños. A generous amount of good, grated cheese will be added and the whole thing dipped under the broiler for a minute or two.

This sort of misunderstanding isn't limited to nachos. A local restaurant named 'Mr. Falafel' claims to have had a hard time at the beginning because locals didn't know what falafel was. Local people thought that 'falafel' and 'pita' were the same thing.

*blinkblink* What. I mean, they're both amazingly good, but they're not even remotely in the same culture. Ow.

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